By the end of the day of wearing socks, my feet start to feel very cold. And when I take my socks off my feet start to warm up again. I don't understand why that happens. When I tell people that my feet start feeling cold after wearing socks for a couple of hours they think I'm weird.

Yes I have the same problem with feet and legs although they don't warm up much when I get them out of the socks - only way is to warm them up with warm/ hot water and follow with a cold soak for me. Toes go bright white then scarlet in the warm water. If I don't follow with cold soak they burn very badly all night. I have RA with small fibre neuropathy and hypothyroidism. Was told that this was Raynauds for a while but not sure anymore. Hands exactly the same thing applies.

That is typical Raynauds - the bright red bit is called a "reactive hyperaemia". It happens because the body suddenly cottons on to the fact it is short of oxygen because the circulation is shut down during the white phase and releases substances that cause them to dilate suddenly to allow blood back in. This dilation and excess blood flow causes the pain - your cold soak sends them back to normal.

For a long time my feet got uncomfortable in socks, either cold or far too hot. Going without socks in the house in the winter helped - I only wore Birkenstocks with socks anyway and that seemed to be OK for most of the time as long as it was dry. I have a pair of winter boots with a nice lining - don't need socks with them.

Thanks for this PMRpro. The trouble for me re walking without socks is that I also have morton's neuromas and sometimes my RA flares in my feet so I need my specially made insoles if I'm going for a walk or doing exercise to protect my joints. Interesting to know it's classic Raynaud's as I have now been told by the neurologist it's progressive small fibre neuropathy and it does seem that I have numbness as well as burning pain in my feet and hands now. Also my fingers and toes don't go blue/ purple like those with true Raynaud's?

There's a lot of trial an error involved it seems but I was very pleased when the hot/ cold soak seemed to reboot my extremities for a while at least. Glad this tarries with your explanation too.

Do you happen to know anything about whether this might connect with my inability to sweat these days I wonder?

Raynauds can be primary or secondary to another problem. Yours is the secondary sort probably. My fingers have never gone blue/purple - dead and white. So did my aunt's fingers. My husband worked in the field, he developed testing for showing the lack of blood flow in Raynauds, and I don't think I ever saw a patients with coloured fingers!

I also get cold feet, or at least they feel cold all the time, but when I touch them they are warm'ish. I have some compression stockings (TEDS) that were given to me when I was in hospital to help against getting a thrombosis. I tried wearing these and felt a definite difference.

Now I have Activa Leg Ulcer stockings and also made to measure elasticated stockings - BOTH are available on prescription - and now the cold feeling is vastly reduced. The stockings help your blood circulation or at least they help mine a great deal.

I would ask your GP or your Rheumatologist/Specialist if they could prescribe these for you. What have you got to lose ?? I hope that you can get them and if you do I hope that they work out for you.

Actually I confess I haven't got a clue but, then again, nothing surprises me where vasculitis/auto-immune conditions are concerned. As asked above, could your socks/tights( I don't know if you are a boy or girl) be too tight? Have you mentioned this to your doctors/consultants-just a thought.

I hate wearing socks because my feet are always cold but with socks they are colder so the only time I do wear socks is if it snows! I too have been diagnosed with raynaulds syndrome but take nifedipine which has helped as I do not get white toes anymore.

Do you find the nifedipine helps? Lots of patients used to say the medication was worse than the illness! One lady actually moved - they wanted to relocate from the north of England to Oz but they wouldn't give her a visa because of her medical history so they moved to the south coast.

Yes the nifedipine does work to a certain degree as I said I do not get white toes anymore but feet are still cold, however while they are cold they are less painful so I don't want them warm. I donot seem to have any side effects from the nifedipine at all.